'S.W.A.T. Exiles' Finds a U.S. Home — And Lands a 2026 Premiere Date
As soon as S.W.A.T. Exiles landed a Canadian home, it was clear that the U.S. streamers would start to consider it. Sure enough, the series has finally found a U.S. home, and it’s coming earlier than expected.
The S.W.A.T. spinoff will stream on the premium cable network STARZ. That means it will get a weekly release, airing both on the channel and then on the streaming platform. The news follows CTV and Crave landing a deal for Canadian viewers.
On top of that, Matt Webb Mitvoch confirmed a premiere date. The series will premiere on September 25, 2026. Don’t worry too much about that being a Friday. While we view Fridays as a death slot on broadcast, the streamers and premium cable networks have found that this day of the week does well. STARZ has had success with the likes of Outlander and Power on Friday nights.
This is earlier than the Canadians will get to watch the show, which was to be expected. As soon as the Canadian home was announced, the pressure was on to find a U.S. home for a U.S.-based series. As of now, there isn’t a confirmed release date for Canadians, but it will arrive sometime in early 2027.
It’s been a long time coming, as S.W.A.T Exiles was announced straight after the cancellation and final episode of the main series. Shemar Moore will reprise his role as Hondo, who in this series has been forced out of the agency and into retirement. However, as newer recruits are struggling to live up to expectations, Hondo is asked to return to train them.
The entire 10-episode series was filmed without a home. Sony Pictures Television focused on creating the show to keep the jobs of the hundreds of crew workers on S.W.A.T. after it was canceled by CBS in May 2025. While there was controversy over the announcement of the spinoff, especially when it came to the current S.W.A.T. cast members, the team remained focused on production.
As well as Moore, Jay Harrington and Patrick St. Esprit will reprise their roles as Deacon and Commander Hicks. It’s not clear how many episodes or in what capacity they will return in, but it will be at least one episode. Lucy Barrett, Adain Bradley, Ronen Rubinstein, Freddy Miyares, and Zyra Gorecki are series regulars on the new series.